Space Force Woos Industry as Ukraine Highlights Commercial Partnerships

April 7, 2022 | By Hope Hodge Seck

As commercial satellites feed images from Ukraine to U.S. space and intelligence agencies in a historically collaborative effort, Space Force leaders are eager to learn how else they can put the commercial sector to work for the service.

In an April 6 hearing before the House Armed Services Committee’s subcommittee on strategic forces, National Geospatial Intelligence Agency Deputy Director Tonya P. Wilkerson alluded to the role the private sector is playing in monitoring Russia’s war on Ukraine.

“[Geospatial Intelligence] has been a central element of our nation’s understanding of the Russia-Ukraine crisis,” she said. “NGA is closely monitoring events in Ukraine while we provide partners across the globe access to numerous sources of intelligence, including commercial space-based imagery.”

While the hearing was taking place, officials at the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs offered more details: some 200 commercial satellites fed imagery into NGA’s pipeline, allowing the agency to anticipate Russia’s moves, David Gauthier, the agency’s deputy director of commercial and business operations, reportedly told an audience there.

This government dependence on commercial space infrastructure illustrates the complexity of the domain. And it’s informing how military leaders are thinking about building up space capabilities.

Lt. Gen. Michael A. Guetlein, commander of U.S. Space Systems Command, said Space Force was planning a “reverse industry day,” an opportunity for space-focused companies to share what they could offer the service in the realm of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR). A traditional industry day, by comparison, features a specific solicitation or needs statement and invites businesses to show how they could meet the predetermined requirements.

The current conflict highlights unfamiliar territory for the Defense Department: operating in a domain where commercial and civil enterprises have more resources, more infrastructure, and sometimes more experience.

In opening remarks, Guetlein described Space Force’s acquisitions strategy: “Buy what we can, build only what we must.” This partnership-heavy approach will make the space enterprise more resilient, he said, and result in a deterrent network “that transcends national borders and bolsters American security and prosperity.”

On the heels of investing $135 million in space domain awareness, $2.3 billion on satellite communications, and $22 million on commercial SATCOM command and control, Guetlein said the next major investment area for Space Force would be ISR.

“We’re just starting to do studies to determine how much ISR we can buy from space,” he said.

Space Systems Command also recently rolled out a new initiative to grease the skids for collaboration between Space Force and the commercial sector: SSC Front Door. Guetlein described the effort as a “one-stop shop” for would-be commercial partners of all sizes, offering them a single site to access and a single email address through which to communicate with the service.

“We will paint the path to opportunities depending on what they’re offering to bring to the table,” Guetlein said.

Jon Ludwigson, director for contracting and national security acquisitions at the Government Accountability Office, did sound a note of caution. He said the increased number of satellites on orbit as the commercial space industry expands requires greater levels of tracking and risk mitigation, particularly in low-earth orbit, where the Defense Department also hopes to expand operations.

“However, the burgeoning commercial industry provides more options for DOD to procure commercial data and services to complement DOD’s, or in place of DOD developing its own systems,” he said. “We’re examining the opportunities and challenges DOD faces on this front.”

Romania Calls for Permanent US Presence, Air Policing to Deter Russia

April 7, 2022 | By Abraham Mahshie

OTOPENI AIR BASE, Romania—NATO Air Command pivoted quickly when Russia invaded Ukraine, deploying U.S. assets to conduct enhanced Air Policing in the Black Sea region, where years of investment are now bearing fruit. But Romanian defense officials say that the deterrence mission must change to a permanent defense mission to prevent future Russian aggression.

“We are living a new normal,” Romanian Air Chief Lt. Gen. Viorel Pana told Air Force Magazine during an interview at Otopeni Air Base in Bucharest.

“Even the plans that we have for a confrontation against a peer competitor need to be adapted,” he said while walking the flight line of Romania’s air lift base. “The key word is flexibility.”

To flex muscle in the weeks and days preceding and immediately following Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. repositioned F-15s, F-16s, and F-35s to conduct enhanced Air Policing missions along the eastern flank of NATO, reaching from the Baltics to the Black Sea.

It did not deter Russia in Ukraine, but it has, thus far, kept Russia from striking the former Soviet and Warsaw Pact nations that in December Russian President Vladimir Putin called on to withdraw NATO firepower.

Romanian defense officials who spoke to Air Force Magazine in Bucharest applauded Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark A. Milley’s remarks to Congress proposing rotational troops at permanent Eastern European bases to deter Russia. They argue Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could have been prevented, and with Russia closer than ever to NATO’s southeastern border, only a permanent presence will deter future aggression.

In Romania, the United States, NATO, and Romania have invested tens of millions of dollars in air base infrastructure, training, and exercises to prepare for the type of contingency now playing out. Russia now occupies Ukraine’s Snake Island, located in the Black Sea at the mouth of the Danube River, some 22 miles from Romania’s coast.

Pana said years of close cooperation with the U.S. Air Force has built wing-to-wing trust between American and Romanian aviators.

“The results can be seen in how we are doing things together,” said Pana, reflecting on the quick repositioning of American F-16s, which are flying from multiple air bases across Romania. “They can operate together, do missions together, plan together.”

Pana explained that the U.S. regularly operates from Romania’s air bases, rotating units and doing missions and training. But Romania wants a permanent American presence in order to stop Russia.

“The aim is to translate from forward presence to forward defense,” said State Secretary for Defense Planning Simona Cojocaru, the equivalent of Romania’s deputy minister of defense. “It’s such a leap. And this cannot be done without U.S. support, without the permanent presence.”

In recent weeks, NATO announced the creation of a new battle group to be hosted in Romania, which already hosts command and control centers and the NATO Headquarters Multinational Corps South-East. The Black Sea country is situated just 200 miles from occupied Crimea, home to Russia’s anti-access, area-denial bubble.

Cojocaru said that at the June NATO summit in Madrid, Romania plans to make its case for a brigade-sized NATO presence. An increase in Romanian defense spending to 2.5 percent of GDP, or $1 billion more per year, is proof that Romania is doing its share, she says.

“We are the front runners here on the eastern flank,” Cojocaru said at an interview conducted at Romania’s Ministry of Defense. “The Black Sea today is the focal point for deterrence and defense.”

Local defense experts agree that it is not enough for the U.S. and NATO partners to show their presence in a crisis and then recede.

“If you continue to come like a fireman, only when the fires are rising, you will come back after five years or 10 years because Russia will not change their behavior,” said George Scutaru, a former Romanian parliamentarian who now heads the think tank New Strategy Center, which hosted a defense discussion April 7 in Bucharest with the Washington-based Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA).

Scutaru pointed to Russian aggression in Georgia in 2008 and Ukraine in 2014, prior to the current crisis, as evidence Russia will strike again if not adequately deterred.

“What is necessary? To have another war in Georgia or to [have fighting in] Moldova to come back?” he posed when asked why the U.S. should maintain a permanent presence in Romania. “It’s necessary to be here.”

AFA Changes Name to the Air & Space Forces Association

April 7, 2022 | By Amy Hudson

After 76 years, the Air Force Association is changing its name to the Air & Space Forces Association to better match its mission supporting and advocating for both Airmen and Guardians.

AFA was incorporated on Feb. 4, 1946—more than a year before the Air Force broke away from the Army and became an independent service under the National Security Act of 1947. The Space Force was established on Dec. 20, 2019, creating a new military service for the first time in more than seven decades, and marking one of the most significant changes in the history of the Air Force.

The Air Force Association changed its name to the Air & Space Forces Association, revealing a new logo on April 7 that better reflects its its advocacy and support for both the Space Force and the Air Force.

“Today, both military services are represented by the Department of the Air Force, and thus, both are fully represented by our Association,” said AFA Chairman Gerald Murray, former Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force. “This change makes clear to everyone that space is integral to our mission.”

Although the association will retain the AFA acronym, which it has used since its inception, it also unveiled a new Star-Delta logo intended to “redefine what those letters stand for,” according to an AFA release. The logo merges a modernized blue star on the left, derived from the original “Hap Arnold” Army Air Corps Star, with the Space Force’s black Delta and Polaris.

“These elements have been combined to present a unique visual identity that reflects the dynamism and permanent bonds between these two services and their respective warfighting domains,” said Murray. “The Polaris in particular is of note, as it represents the Space Force’s unique role as a guiding light and enabler for the whole of the joint force.”

The rebranding is intended to capture the association’s full mission:

To educate the public about air and space power
To advocate for the most capable, lethal, and effective Air and Space Forces
To support Airmen, Guardians, and their families.

“AFA has always been fully committed to supporting both the Air Force and Space Force as the most indispensable elements of our joint force,” said AFA President Lt. Gen. Bruce Wright, USAF (Ret.). “Even now, as the Space Force grows, expands, and builds its own, unique warfighting culture, air and space remain inextricably linked. The Airmen and Guardians who are the masters of those domains nevertheless remain tightly integrated within a single Department of the Air Force. So it is with our Association.”

Cutting Edge New LEO Constellations Will Use Familiar Link 16 Tech

April 6, 2022 | By Shaun Waterman

The Space Development Agency’s experimental Low Earth Orbit (LEO) data transport constellation will employ bleeding edge new technology in space when it starts to launch later this year. But down on the ground, SDA Director Derek M. Tournear told the Space Symposium April 6, the satellites will employ more familiar tech: The 90’s-era Link 16 tactical communications.

“One of the guiding principles at Space Development Agency is whatever we put up in our transport layer has to be compatible with what the warfighters already have. And that’s why we chose Link 16 … Because there’s no extra user equipment that’s needed to be able to tie into that network.”

It was a virtue born out of necessity, he explained. It would have been impossible to provide the capability starting this year with a requirement for new equipment. “Each of the military services has their own process to buy terminals, and these terminals are already in place. If you wanted to require them to use new terminals, it would be close to a 10-year process [to buy them], and you would get a lot of pushback.”

By contrast, Link 16 technology was already ubiquitous, not only among all the U.S. military services, but across the NATO alliance. “Link 16 is the most proliferated tactical data link that not only the U.S., but all of our allies use,” he added.

Link 16 is a standard for tactical radio technology, which provides secure, hard-to-jam communications for voice, text, and data. It has been used extensively in allied operations in Afghanistan and the Middle East. “It’s what we would use to fight in these [near-peer] conflicts,” as well, Tournear explained. As currently deployed, a Link 16 receiver requires a line-of-sight connection and has a maximum range of 300 nautical miles.

Under a $50 million Air Force Research Lab contract, Viasat have been developing a LEO satellite with Link 16 capabilities, and SDA has previously said that Link 16 connectivity will be one of the capabilities they demonstrate when the first experimental wave of the transport layer constellation is launched later this year.

The constellation is designed to provide reliable low latency communications that could survive in a shooting war. Because LEO constellations move across the sky relative to the earth, dozens or even hundreds of them are needed to offer global coverage. But that characteristic also helps make them more survivable, by comparison with a single satellite in geostationary orbit.

Because the new SDA satellites will employ inter-satellite links, as well as connectivity to the ground, Tournear said, connecting them to Link 16 terminals would give a new global reach to a reliable and widely deployed tactical communications system. “We would enable those data [from a Link 16 terminal] to go over our transport layer, and then be set down directly via the existing tactical data links that are already in place,” he said.

In this way, he added, SDA would start to fulfill the promise of the totally connected military force envisaged in the joint all-domain command and control (JADC2) vision.

“Essentially, we’ll take the existing tactical data links, which are the Link 16 networks, and take that from a regional capability to a full global connectivity, low latency communication path. And so that’s how we would be able to enable this sensor to communicate directly to that shooter and be able to close the kill chain.”

Space Force Uniforms Approved, a ‘Home Run’ With Guardians

April 6, 2022 | By Amanda Miller

The Space Force’s service dress uniform proved to be a hit with Guardians—not to mention “off the charts” with younger Guardians—said Chief of Space Operations Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond, and the service has “slapped the table on the final design.”

After its prototype’s unveiling at AFA’s Air Space & Cyber Conference in September 2021, the uniforms went “on the road … to pretty much every installation that had Guardians,” Raymond said in a one-on-one interview with Air Force Magazine at the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colo., on April 6.

Guardians gave the uniform about an 81 percent favorable rating during the road show.

“If you get 81 percent on anything, it’s a home run,” Raymond said

The roadshows, along with some early feedback after the rollout, resulted in refinements to the original design to mitigate issues including the fit and the jacket’s collar. An enlisted Guardian wore the uniform at the symposium whose pants fit noticeably more slimly than the loose pants in the original prototype.

Raymond was still wearing his “spaced up” Air Force uniform, as he put it, quoting Chief Master Sergeant of the Space Force Roger A. Towberman. Raymond’s uniform bore buttons with the Space Force’s delta symbol for the first time this week, and he said Guardians will start to be able to wear the Space Force’s hexagonal nameplates while they wait for their new uniforms.

Next logisticians will take over, Raymond said—”the material gets wear tested and color tested, all of that.”

Then it will go into production, but Raymond acknowledged that supply chain holdups may lengthen that process.

“By law, everything that is on a uniform has to be made in the United States, and there are only two fabric companies in the United States that we can use,” he explained. “The supply chain issues due to COVID have really put that industry in a bit of a bind.

“So we’re accelerating as fast as we can,” Raymond said.

The uniform was the service’s top clothing priority, said Space Force Change Management Team Director Col. James Jenkins in an earlier statement about the uniform development, “as it’s very important to us culturally, to get out front and talk to Guardians.”

The uniform’s distinctive character incorporates symbols such as the Space Force’s delta logo, a standing collar on the dark blue—nearly black—jacket, and a row of six offset buttons representing the six U.S. armed services.

Guardians will continue to wear the Operation Camouflage Pattern uniform, or OCP, for their combat uniform.

Biden Nominates New Commanders for AFMC, AETC

April 6, 2022 | By Greg Hadley

The Air Force is poised to have two new heads of major commands, as President Joe Biden nominated Lt. Gen. Duke Z. Richardson to receive a fourth star and lead Air Force Materiel Command and Lt. Gen. Brian S. Robinson to take over Air Education and Training Command.

Richardson currently serves as the service’s uniformed acquisition chief—the military deputy in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for acquisition, technology, and logistics. His nomination signals that AFMC’s current commander, Gen. Arnold W. Bunch Jr., is slated to leave the job soon; Bunch has led Air Force Materiel Command since May 2019.

As commander of AFMC, Richardson would oversee installation and mission support, discovery and development, test and evaluation, life cycle management services, and sustainment. He would come into the job with a long history in acquisition.

In his 39 years in uniform, Richardson has observed five major changes, he remarked at a recent conference—higher quality threats, a need for interoperability, changes to the workforce, software-defined hardware, and accelerating change.

Robinson, meanwhile, currently serves as deputy commander of Air Mobility Command. He has also served as director of operations at U.S. Transportation Command. If confirmed, he would replace Lt. Gen. Marshall B. “Brad” Webb, who took on the job in July 2019.

Richardson and Robinson’s nominations were received in the Senate on April 4 and referred to the Senate Armed Services Committee.

In addition to Richardson and Robinson, the Air Force also announced a slate of nominations shuffling several key positions in the Pentagon.

Lt. Gen. David S. Nahom, the service’s deputy chief of staff for plans and programs, is being nominated to take over as the commander of U.S. Northern Command’s Alaskan Command, as well as commander of the Eleventh Air Force and NORAD’s Alaskan region.
Lt. Gen. Mary F. O’Brien, who serves as the deputy chief of staff for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and cyber effects operations, is nominated to be Chief Information Officer for the Joint Staff and the director for command, control, communications, and computers/cyber.
And Lt. Gen. Tom D. Miller, the current commander of the Air Force Sustainment Center, is nominated to be deputy chief of staff for logistics, engineering, and force protection.

Meanwhile, three major generals have been nominated for a third star and a new position.

Maj. Gen. Leonard J. Kosinski, deputy commander of the Fifth Air Force, is slated to be director of logistics for the Joint Staff.
Maj. Gen. John D. Lamontagne, chief of staff for U.S. European Command, has been tapped to be deputy commander for U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa.
Maj. Gen. Randall Reed, commander of the Third Air Force, has been nominated to replace Robinson as deputy commander of AMC.

Repositioning of Russian Forces in Ukraine Creates Nightmare Scenario for Romania

April 6, 2022 | By Abraham Mahshie

BUCHAREST, Romania—Russia’s war repositioning to Ukraine’s south and east has heightened worries for NATO Black Sea ally Romania, which saw Russia close within 30 miles of its coastline when it captured Snake Island from Ukraine Feb. 24.

American F-16s are currently conducting a NATO enhanced air policing mission in Romania, and in February the U.S. sent two F-35s to help deter Russia.

Romania has been a stalwart American ally in recent years, hosting roughly 800 American troops on its military bases, including the air policing mission at Fetesti Air Base near the strategically important Danube river delta.

Romanian government officials who spoke to Air Force Magazine in Bucharest worried that Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to be moving towards a strategy of uniting the Russian-speaking areas of Ukraine under Moscow’s control.

From a strategic perspective, Russia needs a land bridge to Crimea, evident by its bombardment of Mariupol, to form a link with the Donbas. The vital port city of Odesa is Russian-speaking and could provide a connection to the Russian occupied Transnistria region of Moldova. That would put Russia directly on NATO’s border with Romania, and transfer southern Ukraine’s mineral and hydrocarbon riches to Russian control.

The American presence of troops and air power has helped to deter Russia so far. But, Romania wants more troops and a permanent U.S. presence. Romania also continues to benefit from American air power while it slowly builds its own modern Air Force.

Romania’s combat aircraft consist of 17 F-16s and a small number of upgraded MiG-21 Lancers. While Romania has ordered 48 total secondhand F-16s with a stated eventual transition to the F-35, most of its F-16s have not been delivered. Romanian pilots also require additional training before they can take on combat missions.

In the meantime, the U.S. Air Force is helping to fill the air defense gap in the southeastern corner of NATO.

“They won’t stop,” a Romanian government official told Air Force Magazine, speaking of Russia.

“Either you stop Russia in Ukraine, or you’re going to fight it on the NATO soil, on the EU soil,” the official added on condition of anonymity in order to discuss sensitive security discussions.

The official observed that Russia has not closed Ukrainian skies or used its array of electronic warfare capabilities.

“You have a big question mark, where’s the rest?” the official posed.

The official suggested the possibility that Russia is keeping some of its most sophisticated capabilities “in reserve for a different purpose, for a different project, for a different operation that is supposed to come afterwards.”

In recent days Romania has detected fast-moving drones passing through its airspace, one of which crashed in Croatia after passing through Romania and Hungary. Long intimidated by Russia, hybrid warfare increased once Russia seized Crimea in 2014 and established a de facto border just 200 miles from NATO shores.

Romania is also surrounded by pro-Russia governments, Hungary and Serbia, and a weak unaligned Moldova. While Bulgaria, its neighbor to the south, is also a NATO member, the country has heavy investment and energy ties to Russia.

The Romanian official and others who spoke to Air Force Magazine said the Romanian government views Russia in a historical context, aspiring to re-establish its historic empire with a population willing to sacrifice losses to maintain Russian greatness.

The officials also pointed to powerful Russian propaganda which has kept much of its people in the dark about the true losses suffered in Ukraine. A move to consolidate the Russian-speaking portions of Ukraine, one official said, could begin a years-long Russification of the population.

As to the repositioning of Russian troops within Ukraine, Romanian officials do not believe Putin will be satisfied seizing Eastern Ukraine or even making Ukraine a land-locked country.

“They want the whole pie, so they won’t stop,” he said. “It’s a long war.”

A Romanian defense official told Air Force Magazine that the country needed the U.S. to participate in NATO air policing for the first time.

“Romania is looking forward to have U.S. Air Force doing air policing in country,” the official said on condition of anonymity when asked if Romania sought a greater American Air Force presence.

On the morning of Putin’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, two F-35s arrived in Romania from Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany to join eight F-16s at Fetesti. The fifth-generation F-35s, from the 388th Fighter Wing at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, are no longer in Romania, but experts say they are a powerful asset both for deterrence and intelligence collection, helping Ukraine battle back Russian advances.

“You have an extraordinary collection asset airborne every time that that fighter gets aloft,” Heritage defense analyst John “JV” Venable told Air Force Magazine in a phone interview.

“It triangulates and it fixes and we’re able to provide that detailed analysis, that detailed intel, we’re able to provide that directly to the Ukrainian fighting forces,” he said. “If we continue to keep those assets there, then they get that much more of it.”

The Romanian government official said the country, which was already investing 2 percent of its GDP on defense, has committed to spend 2.5 percent and is seriously weighing an increase to 3 percent of GDP spending on defense in the wake of Russia’s long-term threat to its and NATO’s national security.

Part of that investment has been in base infrastructure used by American troops and aircraft at Fetesti, Campia Turzii, and Mihail Kogălniceanu. European Deterrence Initiative (EDI) funds have also invested in the air base infrastructure and pre-positioning used by Americans.

“If the Russians are taking Odesa, they are going to become our neighbors also on land,” the Romanian government official said. “They are taking a slice, what they can today, but they will come back because they want the whole pie.”

New HAWC Hypersonic Missile Sets Record for Endurance

April 6, 2022 | By John A. Tirpak

Lockheed Martin’s version of the Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept missile demonstrator set a record for hypersonic flight under scramjet power in a just-revealed March flight test, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency confirmed.

The flight test likely achieved about 327 seconds of hypersonic flight under scramjet power, versus 200 seconds achieved by the Boeing X-51 Waverider in 2010, based on figures provided by DARPA.

“DARPA, in partnership with the U.S. Air Force, recently completed a second successful test of a Hypersonic Air-breathing Concept, known as HAWC,” Stefanie Tompkins, head of DARPA, told the Senate Armed Services subcommittee on emerging threats and capabilities. “This test set a record for scramjet endurance, and we believe it’s an inflection point on the path to reclaiming U.S. leadership in hypersonic weapons.”

Tompkins did not provide details, but DARPA issued a release saying it had flown the Lockheed HAWC 300 miles at altitudes up to 65,000 feet. Scramjets require supersonic speeds to ignite, and are boosted to those speeds by a detachable rocket. Since hypersonic flight begins very quickly after the rocket fires, most of the 300 miles would be flown under scramjet power.

At 65,000 feet, the speed of sound is 660 mph. Hypersonic flight is considered above Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound, meaning the HAWC’s speed at that altitude would be at least 3,300 mph. At that speed, 300 miles would be covered in 1/11 of an hour, translating to a flight time of 5:45 minutes, or about 327 seconds.

“We were at hypersonic speeds for the majority of that distance, and it would be a longer flight than X-51,” a DARPA spokesman said in response to that calculation.

Tompkins’ testimony remark also suggests the duration of flight by the Lockheed HAWC bested the performance of the competing Raytheon HAWC, which made a free flight in September 2021. Few details of that test were revealed, although it was touted as a success by DARPA.

Pentagon officials said the Lockheed HAWC test was not immediately made public to avoid escalation in the Ukraine war, in which Russia had just used a hypersonic missile to attack a weapons depot.

“This Lockheed Martin HAWC flight test successfully demonstrated a second design that will allow our warfighters to competitively select the right capabilities to dominate the battlefield,” said Andrew Knoedler, HAWC program manager in DARPA’s tactical technology office, in a DARPA press release. “These achievements increase the level of technical maturity for transitioning HAWC to a service program of record.”

In the September test, DARPA said the Raytheon missile “kicked on” just seconds after being released from its launch aircraft, then “compressed incoming air mixed with its hydrocarbon fuel and began igniting that fast-moving airflow mixture, propelling the cruiser at a speed greater than Mach 5,” DARPA said at the time.

DARPA said the Raytheon missile achieved all its primary goals for the test, including vehicle integration and release, safe separation from the launch aircraft, booster ignition, boost, booster separation, engine ignition, and cruise.”

In budget briefings last week, the Air Force signaled that it is emphasizing the HAWC over the boost-glide AGM-183A Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon, or ARRW, as the ARRW has failed a number of attempts to make a successful free flight.

Air Force budget director Maj. Gen. James D. Peccia III, in a budget briefing last week, said USAF is “not walking away” from ARRW.

“It’s funded” in the fiscal 2023 budget, he said, and after further scrutiny, “we’ll make an assessment” about whether to continue the program.

The $577 million for hypersonics weapon research in the fiscal 2023 budget covers both ARRW and the Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile, the latter of which will build on HAWC research. The budget request was to include $160 million to buy 12 ARRWs, but that money has been almost entirely shifted back to research, development, test, and evaluation, Peccia said.

Ukraine Crisis to Influence Growth of US Cyber Force, Nakasone Says

April 6, 2022 | By Hope Hodge Seck

In the lead-up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, “hunt-forward” teams deployed from U.S. Cyber Command to help the Ukrainians harden their networks and identify vulnerabilities—an early defensive play in a conflict that would be dominated by information operations and cyber threats. CYBERCOM also provided remote analysis to Ukraine and moved into high gear when the invasion began to mitigate threats and offer support for critical networks. The prominent cyber element in the current war has captured public attention and underscored the Pentagon’s emphasis on this emerging capability. And it will likely have implications for future defense budgets and growth strategies, the head of CYBERCOM said April 5.

“My sense is, we are learning a tremendous amount from our operations right now in support of the crisis in Ukraine that will likely inform us,” Gen. Paul M. Nakasone told the House Armed Services Committee’s subcommittee on cyber, innovative technologies, and information systems (CITI). “We’re a different force today than we were even four years ago when I took over.”

As Air Force Magazine reported in March, Air Force leaders have acknowledged that the Ukraine mission has stretched U.S. cyber forces thin and demonstrated the limitations of what they can accomplish at their current size and resourcing levels.

Asked about that report in the hearing, Nakasone acknowledged that Ukraine had been formative, though he deferred a detailed discussion of capabilities to a later classified briefing.

“What I would offer here is that one of the very big lessons that we’ve learned is the ability to deploy a number of different teams early on in a crisis to U.S. European Command,” he said. “And then working with [EUCOM Commander Gen. Tod] Wolters and his staff to make sure those experts, those teams, go to the places that are necessary.”

Created in 2012 with 133 teams and roughly 6,200 personnel, CYBERCOM is slated to grow by 14 more teams between now and fiscal 2024, with five teams added this year. About half of the 14 teams are slated to come from the Air Force. But Nakasone indicated that growth, authorized in the fiscal 2022 defense budget, could well be just a starting point.

“The question I often get asked is, is this enough? What’s the number of teams that you need?” Nakasone said. “And this is a study that’s ongoing right now within the department, to really determine what is the final number of teams we need for the future.”

Nakasone’s day on Capitol Hill included four hearings, with open and closed sessions before the House and Senate Armed Services Committees. The volume of questions he received on cyber warfare and resourcing, even while testifying alongside U.S. Special Operations Command leaders on the Senate side, highlighted the growing interest in cyber. Lawmakers invited Nakasone to ask for anything he needed and to be honest about any shortfalls or unmet requests. Many also asked detailed questions about CYBERCOM’s strategy to recruit and retain top talent, a particular challenge in light of competition from the civilian sector and immature career pipelines that are not yet standardized across the services.

Nakasone told CITI subcommittee chairman Rep. Jim Langevin (D-RI) that this standardization was a particular priority, and an area where change was coming soon.

“I’m working this very closely with the service Chiefs now,” Nakasone said. “This is something that Command Sergeant Major [Sheryl] Lyon is also working with the senior enlisted leaders: we have to standardize tour lengths, we need to standardize Active-duty service obligations.”

The Marine Corps in particular is a model in this area, he said. The Marines launched a cyberspace career track in 2018 and have emphasized policies that allow cyber troops to stay in that field once established.

“What the Marines have really done very efficiently, that I applaud, is the fact that they’ve lengthened their tours, in terms of how long they stay with us,” Nakasone told Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), a veteran Marine Corps officer who served in Iraq. “Most young men and women that come into the Marine Corps that want to be cyber warriors want to do cyber, so being able to do that for six-plus years at one location has been very, very attractive to them. And we see that in the payoff with regards to the retention numbers.”

Other creative efforts to attract cyber talent are also on the table. Nakasone mentioned targeted local supplements, a strategy rolled out in 2021 that allows CYBERCOM to pay rates higher than the set military schedule for high-end talent.

“People that are coders or people that have significant technical abilities, pay them at 28 percent more than the going rate,” he said. “That’s never going to, perhaps, compete with the private sector. But what it does do, it does give us a leg up on being able to say what you do is valued.”

Nakasone also discussed the incentive of direct commissioning, suggesting it may be employed more broadly as CYBERCOM grows. Currently, the Army and Coast Guard allow civilians to commission directly into the cyber officer corps. Like the Navy and Marine Corps, the Air Force has resisted using the direct-commission authority to bring civilians in, although it has employed it in limited cases for enlisted Airmen.

In a post on LinkedIn this month, Space Force Senior Cyber Officer Col. John Smail said that service was all in on civilian direct-commissioning.

“If you are a cyber/IT professional in industry or a government civilian and want to serve your country as a uniformed Active-duty Guardian, this may be an awesome opportunity for you!” he said.

Nakasone said this authority gave CYBERCOM “a certain amount of dynamic” in recruiting.

“Being able to do recruiting from a population of civilians, ‘Hey, come in and be a mid-grade officer.’ Or, as we take a look at our enlisted workforce and say, ‘Hey, why don’t you go spend six months with industry, or go get a graduate degree.’ These are all areas that perhaps we haven’t traditionally done within our services,” he said. “But this is a dynamic nature that I think we’ve got to approach the problem here in cyberspace.”

The Defense Department is now conducting the 2022 Cyber Posture Review, the first since 2018 on the size and capabilities of the cyber force. Once complete, it will inform CYBERCOM’s forward strategy and resource priorities. The conclusions are likely to emphasize the continued need to develop cyber talent as well as to recruit and retain those with the desired skills.

“Broadly,” Nakasone said, “Our supply is not large enough in our nation.”